Please select your home edition
Edition
Melges 2023 - Melges 15 LEADERBOARD

Unique guide introduced for sailing the Viking Route Across the Atlantic

by Cruising Club of America 7 Jul 11:27 PDT

The CCA Essential Passage Guide to the Viking Route, created by members of the Cruising Club of America, provides mission-critical information for the high-latitude crossing between the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland.

Published by CCA Nautical Publishers, the CCA Essential Passage Guide to the Viking Route is the first guide to distill and precisely present the information sailors need to passage the high-latitude waters between the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland. The guide is also unique in that it focuses on and pursues a specific route across the North Atlantic—the route the Vikings took all those years ago.

Edited by Viking route passagemaker William Strassberg, MD, with several other Cruising Club of America members who have sailed this route, the Guide dispenses information in a logical, manageable format, featuring the essential information that sailors need to know when stopping to explore the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland.

Successfully navigating the Viking route—and sailing through ice—requires a skill set very different from long-distance voyaging in more temperate waters. Skipper, vessel, and crew must be fully prepared and have an understanding of the vagaries and challenges of high-latitude sailing and ice navigation. If you are considering outfitting your boat for the high latitudes, or have it on your long-range bucket list, this book is for you.

In the Foreword to the CCA Essential Passage Guide to the Viking Route, the Reverend Captain Bob Shepton, a Blue Water Medal winner, answers the question, "Why another guide?":

...because this guide is different; it does not follow the pattern of a general Pilot. It stands alone, and is perhaps unique in that it pursues a different course—literally. It follows a specific route across the Arctic...in-depth, but not complex or complicated, and therefore suitable both for those who have not been to the Arctic before, and also for those who have, as there is much included that would be useful additional information.... This really is a valuable additional resource for Arctic sailors of whatever vintage, and I strongly recommend it.

A substantial portion of the 284-page guide is focused on topics unique to sailing high-latitude waters. A chapter on timing and passage planning begins the guide, allowing a skipper contemplating the voyage to consider potential itineraries. The next topic is weather, a chapter describing high-latitude weather patterns, how they are different, and how to keep out of trouble. Chapters on ice and Arctic navigation follow, and the subjects continue—equipment, communications, safety, skippers, leadership, overwintering, and embracing a culture of safety.

More than half of the guide delves deeply into selected harbors along the way, with lists of necessities available for the boat and shoreside opportunities for skipper and crew. Harbors are chosen for location, accessibility, activities, history, and passagemaking benefits.

Editor Bill Strassberg assembled the Guide's focused, mission-critical information while preparing for his own passage in 2019, with help from Shepton, Steve Brown, Sally and Simon Currin, Dick and Ginger Stevenson, and several other CCA members who know the Viking Route waters well. "Our goal," he says, "is to help prospective Viking Route sailors prepare thoroughly and minimize those things they did not know they did not know."

Copies of the CCA Essential Passage Guide to the Viking Route may be ordered through Paradise Cay Publications. In Europe, order through Imray.

For all other CCA Guides by CCA Nautical Publishers, visit cruisingclub.org/book/ccaguides.

Related Articles

2023 Marion Bermuda Race wrap-up
Not for the faint of heart The fleet saw conditions ranging from fast-moving squalls to completely still air; the mostly light winds tested both patience and skill for the 32 skippers and their crew that set sail on June 16th from Buzzards Bay in Marion, Massachusetts. Posted on 26 Jun
Richard Moody's Boudicca Wins Line Honors
Finishing n the early morning light on Monday in the 2023 Marion Bermuda Race In the early morning light on Monday, Richard Moody's Boudicca crossed the Marion Bermuda Race finish line off of St. David's Lighthouse, having sailed a total of 705 miles in just 2 days, 17 hours, 26 minutes, 27 seconds. Posted on 19 Jun
2023 Marion Bermuda Race day 1
The fleet sets sail from just off Marion, Massachusetts Beneath sunny skies and a light breeze, the 32-boat fleet in the 2023 Marion Bermuda Race set sail from just off Marion, Massachusetts on Friday, June 16th. Posted on 17 Jun
Marion Bermuda Race: Weather in the Gulf Stream
W. Frank Bohlen has prepared two documents ahead of the race W. Frank Bohlen, from UConn's Marine Sciences Program, has prepared two documents ahead of the Marion Bermuda Race in regards to the Gulf Stream. Posted on 25 May
Clearing Customs 101
Sailing to a foreign country involves a great deal of planning and paperwork Sailing to a foreign country involves a great deal of planning and paperwork. The Marion-Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race Organizing Committee is here to help. We have many years of experience and local knowledge of Hamilton and all of Bermuda. Posted on 19 Apr
How to get out of Buzzards Bay, fast
We checked in with 2 experienced Buzzards Bay skippers to get tips for getting out of the Bay fast Buzzards Bay, where we place our start line, is notoriously tricky. In the last handful of years, we've seen everything from gale-force winds to dying breeze, flat or lumpy sea states, and — literally — everything in between. Posted on 12 Apr
CCA honors extraordinary 2022 ocean sailors
Blue Water Medal presented to Kenichi Horie The 2022 Cruising Club of America (CCA) awards ceremony was held at the New York Yacht Club on Saturday and was highlighted by the presentation of the Blue Water Medal to octogenarian Kenichi Horie. Posted on 6 Mar
The Northeast Ocean Race Symposium
The Marion Bermuda Race, Marblehead Halifax Race and the Bermuda 1-2 Race combine For the first time ever, in 2023, the three odd-year ocean races in the northeastern United States are jointly sponsoring an event called the Northeast Ocean Race Symposium on March 25th. Posted on 13 Feb
Hands-On Safety at Sea Training
By Marion Bermuda Race and Cruising Club of America The Marion Bermuda Race and Cruising Club of America are partnering in a Hands-On Safety at Sea training course leading to a US Sailing International Offshore Safety at Sea Certificate. Posted on 11 Feb
Kenichi Hori named winner of Blue Water Medal
Japan's best known ocean sailor honored by the Cruising Club of America Kenichi Horie, Japan's best known ocean sailor, has been named winner of the 2022 Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America (CCA) for a lifetime of ocean-crossing achievement. Posted on 4 Jan
North Sails Performance 2023 - FOOTERMarine Resources 2022 - FOOTERFestival of Sails 2024 FOOTER